Ok dude, this is one example of company profile I had written in my senior years. This is the official format of company profile.Trust me, I got good grade on this..
ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
Historical Overview
Zebra Technologies Corporation was established in 1969, as a manufacturer of high speed electro mechanical product by Edward Kaplan and Gerhard Cless. During that period of time, the company was named as Data Specialties Inc. At the beginning, the company made machines to punch holes in paper and read paper tape. In 1982, the company focused to specialty on-demand and ticketing systems by introducing its first bar code printer. The company changed it name to Zebra Technologies in the year 1986.
In 1991 Zebra Technologies went public and opened a branch office in UK and two years later, Zebra acquired a company in UK. In 1995, the company's chairman Edward Kaplan started focusing primarily on acquisition. In the same year, the company acquired Vertical Technologies, a producer of PC-based label and bar code software. In 1996, Zebra created its Personal Printer Division to perform the low end of the bar code market. In 1998, Zebra released bar code printing software combined with JetForm Central’s output management software, which enables clients to print labels directly from enterprise resource planning applications. Same year, Zebra acquired their biggest bar code equipment rival for more than $200 million (Hoover’s Inc, 2007).
The company acquired Comtec Information System, a manufacturer of wireless printing products, in 2000. In the same year, the company formed an alliance with Texas Instruments and Symbol Technologies Inc. for the production of radio-frequency based identification (RFID) products. In 2001, Zebra tried to purchase Fargo Electronics, but due to obstacles getting approval from the Federal Trade Commission, the companies mutually terminated the deal in 2002 (Hoover’s, 2007).
Organizational Structure
Zebra’s headquarters are located in Vernon Hills, Illinois. The company has been able to reach out to more than 90 countries throughout Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and the Pacific region. The company has successfully provided services through its sales and support subsidiaries located in United Kingdom, Denmark, Italy, France, Germany, China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Australia, South Africa, Mexico and Argentina.
Zebra’s organizational structure consists of Corporate Officers and Board of Directors. The Corporate Officers include Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Executive Vice President and Secretary, Vice President and General Manager of Card Imaging, Vice President and General Counsel, Senior Vice President of Operations--Bar Code Business Unit, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, Vice President and Controller, Senior Vice President--Office of the CEO, and Chief Financial Officer/ Treasurer. The Board of Directors includes four members (Zebra Technologies, 2007).
Product or Services
Zebra is popular for its reliable printing solutions for the industrial marketplace, and businesses worldwide. Zebra products are used by firms in many industries includes consumer goods, manufacturing, automotive, healthcare, electronics, transportation, telecommunications, chemical, textiles, shipping, warehousing and distribution, military and government, food packaging and distribution, aerospace, education, security, construction, entertainment, hospitality, and also in retail.
Zebra products consist of line car code printers, mobile printers, laser printers, RFID printers, remote network printer management systems, label design software, bar code verifiers, ribbons, toner, labels, and other printer supplies (Zebra Technologies, 2007).
Financial Performance
Zebra has done well and succeeded in expanding its horizon by acquiring several companies in recent years. In the fiscal 2005, annual company sales rose by 6 percent to $702.2 million, and net income rose to $111.6 million compared to the previous year. Revenues and net income reflected higher sales in both international and domestic market in that year. The company continued same spirit in the year 2006. As compared to 2005, the annual company sale increased by 8 percent to $759.5 million. (Yahoo Inc, 2007).
Future Outlook
Zebra has continued to enhance its current technologies and develop new technologies. Zebra has recently introduced ZebraNet Wireless plus print server, which is considered to be next level printing solution (Zebra Technologies, 2007). In early 2007, the company has acquired Wherenet, a provider of RFID systems, for $126 million. Wherenet has more than 150 million installations in operation which include active RFID tags, fixed position antennas and web-enabled software. Acquiring Wherenet can add high growth platform to Zebra Technologies in coming days (Ferguson, 2007). Zebra has been developing new technologies to provide more secure and reliable solutions to its customers.
Company Analysis
After analyzing performance of Zebra Technologies, it is obvious that the company grown significantly, since its establishment. Zebra has acquired many companies and strengthened its existence and improved its performance in recent years. Zebra has focused on the feedbacks by their customers which has helped the company in taking corrective action and improve their products as well as internal processes (Ingram, 1994).Zebra Technologies is known for its reliable on-demand printing solutions as well as superior customer service and they have potential to continue success in the future.
References
Ferguson, R. (2007). Acquiring WhereNet. Retrieved March 3, 2007, from
http://www.extremerfid.com/article/Zebra+Technologies+to+Acquire+WhereNet/198628_1.aspx
Hoover’s, Inc. (2007). History. Retrieved March 2, 2007, from
http://premium.hoovers.com/subscribe/co/history.xhtml?ID=ffffrhyhrfcsfrhjsj
Ingram, S. (1994). The Quality Information. Retrieved March 3, 2007, from
http://www.asq.org/qic/display-item/index.html?item=10069
Yahoo Inc. (2007). Finance. Retrieved March 3, 2007, from http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=ZBRA&annual
Zebra Technologies. (2007). About Zebra. Retrieved March 2, 2007, from
http://www.zebra.com/id/zebra/na/en/index/about_zebra.html
Zebra Technologies. (2007). Press release. Retrieved March 2, 2007, from
http://www.zebra.com/id/zebra/na/en/index/about_zebra/newsroom/press_releases.html